


Penny Drop

by chasexjackson



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, I am just consumed by these two send help, also this is the first time i've written these two so i'm sorry if it's just not in character at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3976426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasexjackson/pseuds/chasexjackson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her mom had always talked about penny drop moments, warping the phrase into her own means and pointing them out in any and every movie and TV show they've watched together. It's the moment someone clicks onto the big fat dramatic irony that the audience have been screaming about for the past twelve acts. Juliet realises the boy she's just frolicked around with all night is actually her sworn enemy. Oedipus finds out that he screwed his mom. Luke finds out his dad is the evil dark lord with a breathing problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penny Drop

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this a couple of weeks ago when my need for Jake/Amy was particularly high - i.e. i wrote this BEFORE the most recent episode which effectively stopped my heart - and initially shared it with my good friend, Jane. But following the events of the aforementioned heart destroying episode, I've decided to share it with y'all.
> 
> (hit me up on my tumblr - ananbeth - if you want to cry with me pls)

Amy wakes up to warmth and old spice. Light and city noises threaten to break in through the closed window behind her but the comforter tugged around her shoulders does its job of keeping them cocooned from the rest of the world for a little while longer. Her body craves a stretch but she fights it, knowing that will wake her up, and she curls around the warmth instead. Him, it's a him she's curled around with all of his warmness and old spice-ness and okay, she's not making sense.

Back up a bit.

Amy Santiago is lying in bed, naked, curled around the back of an equally naked Jake Peralta. She's never been big spoon before, it's nice. It makes her feel safe, for some reason.

But how did this happen?

Well there may have been a bet and more than a few dares with money involved (otherwise known as bets, she knows) and then she and Jake were walking down one of the darker and shadier streets of Brooklyn with dead cell phones and no money. She also didn't have a jacket with her because she'd left it in his stupid car - which should have been her months ago after hat particular bet. _The_ bet. But it isn't and she's left traipsing down dark cold streets without a jacket because Peralta is an idiot and okay, perhaps this was partly down to her stubbornness too. Partly. A very small part.

Tiny.

"We need to go down here," Peralta tells her, pointing down a side street lined with black bin bags which look like they've been there since the invention of the black bin bag.

"As if you actually know where we are."

"I know exactly where we are." He frowns down at her, tugging those damn furry eyebrows together over his nose. She looks away from him, trying not to think about how cute he looks.

Unwelcome thoughts like that have been showing up in her head more and more of late and she doesn't know what to do about them. She figures it'll pass, so in the meantime she just tries not to look at him too much. So far it's working great.

"I chased a guy down this alley," he says, drawing her back. "Hey, I think these are the same bin bags." He toes at the nearest one and it threatens to split open.

"Gross."

"Come on," he says, already halfway down the grim alley.

As it turns out, he's right. Amy's annoyance is only slightly trumped by the relief of seeing familiar street signs. But it's still a half hour walk back to his car and she is cold now. Really freaking cold until a warm weight settles in her shoulders.

"Wha-?" She looks up as Jake finishes pushing his jacket on her. His beloved leather jacket, with which she is sure he's more attached to than any girlfriend he's ever had. He's giving it to her.

"You could probably hear your teeth chattering in New Jersey," he says, withdrawing his hands and tucking them into the pockets of his jeans.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Amy Santiago's penny drop moment.

Her mom had always talked about penny drop moments, warping the phrase into her own means and pointing them out in any and every movie and TV show they've watched together. It's the moment someone clicks onto the big fat dramatic irony that the audience have been screaming about for the past twelve acts. Juliet realises the boy she's just frolicked around with all night is actually her sworn enemy. Oedipus finds out that he screwed his mom. Luke finds out his dad is the evil dark lord with a breathing problem.

And she's not even sure how obvious this has been before she's realised it. Jake Peralta is a gentleman and he cares. Things she has always known but not really paid attention to. And what's really the penny hitting the floor is the fact that she likes him for not only these qualities, but all of his other ones too. She likes him. Amy Santiago likes Jake Peralta. The planets have aligned. The penny has dropped.

And the truth is that this came out months ago, at that awful dinner when she'd broken up with Teddy and all he had done was stare. Jake had just stared at her like he didn't believe it. He'd been with Sophia then, too, who he'd ended up loving for a brief while before they'd broken up. And now, now they are both single and she likes him and has absolutely no idea what to do about that fact.

So she walks with him back to his car and tries not to laugh too loud at his bad jokes and tries not to inhale the smell of his jacket too much because this whole thing is ridiculous.

She tries to talk herself out of this; that she's being irrational and rash and ridiculous but...she isn't. She just isn't. Jake Peralta has been a significant person in her life for a long time and she cares about him, she knows him. This isn't just a fleeting crush and she realises that now, as they reach his car and she shrugs out of his warm jacket to retun it to him. Jake takes it and unlocks the passenger door for her first.

"Jake," she calls, before he can walk around the car.

He turns around to face her, eyebrows raised, lips turned up as he waits for her to speak.

Amy clears her throat and steel herself. She has done training on confidence, attended dozens of lectures on communication and posture and body language. And it all, all of it, goes forgotten in this moment. Because this is Jake, not some perp to interrogate or a sergeant to impress or even a guy in a bar. It's Jake.

"Before you went on that undercover mission, you told me you liked me."

He blinks at her, apparently surprised by this topic of discussion. He says nothing though, so she blunders on.

"And I didn't say anything back, partly because I was with someone and partly because I didn't know how I felt right then. And then that...thing came out at that dinner with Teddy and Sophia and it was just messy."

"By that thing, do you mean your confession that you loved me?"

She glares at him. _"Liked."_

He smiles and then ducks his head, like he's nervous. Which is so un-Peralta that she sucks in a little breath of shock as she watches him.

"Is that a past tense?" he asks quietly.

He's still leaning against his car so he takes a step closer, still keeping a fair distance between them.

"No," she says, and watches his face lift up, eyes fixing on her. "I like you, Jake. I don't know how you feel any more but this is me letting you know that I like you. Do with that information what you will, I just thought I should let you know, considering our past."

Jake watches her for a moment, completely silent and unusually inexpressive and her heart goes into overdrive as she internally admonishes herself for saying anything. But no, she reminds herself, she didn't say it to get a response. She told him because he deserves to know.

Amy lets out a small sigh. "We should get going. It's late and we have work tomorrow."

She moves around him to open the door but his hand closes over her wrist. "Wait."

She looks up at him, too close now. She can see spot of gold in his iris.

"What?"

"You like me?" His voice is barely louder than a whisper and she's so unused to it sounding this way. Not charged with sarcasm or overacting or sex jokes.

She just nods.

"Oh my god. Two cops get friendly against a car, the name of your sex tape."

 _"Jake,"_ she groans. She spoke too soon - or rather, _thought_ too soon.

He just nods, looking all smug. "Yep. That's in there."

She slaps his arm. "Jake! Just...get in the car.”

He actually rolls his eyes and tugs on her wrist until she’s backed up against the car and he is all up in her space with his big fat smile and his leather jacket and his Jake-ness.

“I like you too,” he tells her.

And there are probably a hundred reasons why they shouldn’t do this. Amy has dated cops in the past and it hasn't worked out. Her desk backs right up to Jake's, if things go sour between them she has to face him every single day. She doesn't want anything between them to affect her work, more importantly she doesn't want their friendship to be broken as a result of this.

But they have both been pining for too long now, and words have been said which can't be taken back. Jake holds her shoulders firmly and squares himself to look at her properly. Andm in the most serious tone she thinks he can probably manage, he says,

"Amy Santiago, will you go out with me? Romantic-stylez?"

And every last protest her mind had meekly suggested flits away. Amy grabs the collar of his jacket with both hands and tips up on her toes against him and she kisses him.

Amy had thought about kissing him a few times, unsure of what to expect from him. She had thought he might be one of those guys who go all in straight away with tongue and teeth and passion, because that's him - no plan, all gusto. But his returning kiss is gentle, coaxing, and even as she sucks on his bottom lip he lifts one of his hands to her face and stroke her cheekbone, easing some tenderness into their kiss.

She's realising now that there's nothing she could have told herself to stop this. No reason she can think of to make herself not want to be with him.

Penny dropping.

He pulls back and smiles like only Jake can and Amy's heart beats a little faster at the sight.

"Is that a yes?"

She smiles and nods at him, tugging on his jacket gently. "Romantic-stylez."

Penny dropped.

* * *

Which brings her back to the next morning, where he snuggling time with Jake is rudely interrupted by the alarm on her phone singing merrily from underneath her pillow. She extracts herself from Jake, who doesn't even shift at the disturbance, and reaches under her pillow to turn it off. She has fifteen minutes before she needs to leave in order to get back to her apartment, shower and change before getting to work.

Before she had gone to sleep last night, she had adjusted her alarm to account for this. Jake had affectionately (she hoped) called her a nerd and fallen straight to sleep. No doubt his alarm wasn't set to go off for another hour or so.

As Amy sets about pulling on the clothes that are spread out far and wide around Jake's bedroom and into the hall, he lets out a low grunt. His eyes are still closed when she eventually pulls her boots on so she goes into the bathroom to wash her face.

It's a tiny bathroom, and although there's a bit of mold in one of the corners, Amy can see herself standing here on many mornings to come. Her electric toothbrush would be squashed on the side of the sink next to Jake's blue one with the bent bristles, along with her face wash and shampoo and almond body butter and- okay, she'll probably bring a toiletries bag of spare things to keep in his bathroom. She should wait though, until they've been dating for longer than twelve hours, to suggest any of this to him.

It's not out of her character to plan meticulously into the future, but she's scaring even herself with how much she is thinking about becoming a part of Jake's life. This whole thing has the potential to fall apart if they rush headlong into it. Slow, that's how they need to take things. Okay, they slept together on what was effectively the first night of their relationship, but from now on Amy Santiago has her mature, reasonable hat on. And she likes Jake too much to screw this up.

When she goes back into the room he is blinking awake, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm out to the empty side of the bed. Her heart swells.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she greets.

"Mph."

Amy laughs and kneels down next to his head, she brushes some of his hair from his forehead.

"I have to go."

He frowns sleepily at that. "You walkin' out on me, Santiago?"

She grins at him. "Not a chance, Peralta. I have to go home and change before work."

"It's so early," he complains.

"I need to shower."

"Yeah, ya do." He shuffles up the bed a little. Amy moves to sit on the mattress facing him. Jake takes her hand and frowns.  "I thought we could walk in together?"

Amy winces a little. "About that..."

Jake looks like such a lost puppy that she almost changes her mind right there and then. But she's sure he will agree, once she explains herself.

"I was thinking maybe we could keep this between us for now? Not because I'm ashamed or anything like that," she rushes to explain at his confused expression. "I just really, really want this to work out. And. I don't think the watchful eyes of everyone at work will help."

He contemplates that for a moment before sighing. "I guess you're right."

She smiles a little at the reluctance in his tone. He sounds like a kid who's been told he can't show off his new bike to his friends.

"Besides, I think a few people have bets on this." She gestures between them. "How about we keep them waiting a little longer to find out who's won."

Jake grins. "Amy Santiago, you minx."

She gives him a little smirk and holds out her hand to him. "So we're agreed?"

He sighs heavily but lifts his hand from the mattress to shake hers anyway. "We tell no one."

"Well, apart from Holt," she reasons.

"What? No way! If I'm not allowed to tell Boyle you're not allowed to tell the Captain."

"Jake, we have to tell him. We're supposed to disclose information about dating co-workers."

He scowls at her. "You really think that Holt will be able to keep this a secret."

Amy bristles a little in defence of her boss and mentor. It's automatic and she fights it down. "Captain Holt is a professional."

"A professional who is against all forms of lying," he reminds her, looking annoyingly smug.

Amy puzzles it out. The idea of lying to her boss is positively mortifying, but so is he idea of everyone in the precinct prying into hers and Jake's relationship before it even has a chance to get off the ground.

"Well maybe we can just...put off telling him."

Jake grins and she points a finger at him.

"But only for a little while. Just until we figure stuff out."

Jake leans forward and kisses her squarely. "We've only been dating for one night and I'm already corrupting you to my ways," he murmurs.

She slaps his chest lightly but follows it with another kiss to his lips.

"In your dreams." She stands up, out of his reach and pulls her jacket on. "I'll see you at work, Detective Peralta."

Jake watches her with still sleepy eyes and let's a slow smile devour his face. "Later, Detective Santiago."

 


End file.
